Audi A6. On my second term and haven't had any problems in 5+ years now. Great car all around, better than BMW or MB.
I bought the last one before the Iraq war began...next time, we will get Japanese (Lexus or Acord).
Posted on 12/26/2004 4:36:26 PM PST by Brilliant
The price of unreliability is getting outrageous. If you want to buy what Consumer Reports has determined will be the least reliable sedan available in the U.S., you're going to have to shell out between $75,000 and $125,000. That's because the dubious honor went to a car Consumer Reports also calls "sumptuous," "quiet and luxurious" and "a delight to drive": the Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Mercedes-Benz (a division of DaimlerChrysler) has been struggling with quality problems over the last few years. But the rest of the list of the least reliable sedans reads like the valet lot of a Davos hotel at convention time. Ten of the 11 are European-made and include some of the most celebrated and technologically advanced sedans on the market, including 3 Mercedes-Benz models, 2 BMWs and 2 Jaguars (see table). The average price: $51,000, compared with an average price of $32,000 for the mostly Japanese vehicles on the list of most reliable sedans.
The problems, says David Champion, a former Land Rover and Nissan engineer who runs the auto testing program for Consumer Reports, are electronic. "The engineers have gone a little wild," he says. "They've put in every bell and whistle that they think of, and sometimes they don't have the attention to detail to make these systems work."
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has a computer-driven suspension system that reduces body roll as the vehicle whips around a corner. It has cruise control that automatically slows the car down if it gets too close to another car. Its seats are adjustable 14 ways, and they are ventilated by a system that uses eight fans to whisk away perspiration.
But drivers who responded to Consumer Reports' surveys cited "serious" problems with the vehicles' electrical systems, power equipment and accessories. The S430 Consumer Reports used for its own test came with a broken "back" button on the navigation system. One small mistake in entering a destination address made the system unusable.
Mercedes-Benz doesn't believe there's a problem, saying in a statement: "The data utilized by Consumer Reports is volunteered by [Consumer Reports] readers, not verified, and does not correlate to our own data or that of other surveys." In recent J.D. Power and Associates studies Mercedes-Benz scored better than the industry average for initial quality but worse than the industry average for longer-term dependability.
BMW says it has fixed the problems with its 7 Series-but not by making the vehicles any simpler. "People drive our cars because they're sophisticated," says spokesman David Buchko. "Our goal is not to take stuff out of the car but to make what's in the car as reliable as possible." Sales of the high-end sedans for both BMW and Mercedes-Benz are suffering. Through the end of October, 7 Series sales were down 19% from 2003 and S-Class sales were off 12%.
There are certainly Porsches where that's the best way to adjust the valves. It wouldn't surprise me if there are some where that's the best way to change the oil.
IBM has just sold its entire PC business (except service) to China.
Dr. Deming taught the Japanese well. The foundation of luxury in Japan is that Things should Work Right. BMW still makes marvelous engines that can last forever, but the baubles tend to break.
And of course, these are put on the most expensive cars, because the technology is not solid enough to put in the high volume cars until the "bugs" are worked out (can you say Recall?).
Give me a low-tech clunker ANY day - I can pop the hood and actually WORK on it. ;-)
The cars or the people?
bump
Santa was very good to you!
Yes, I can get parts for the Ford at laughably low costs..They make millions of them, and everyone sells parts.
But surprisingly, I have never had trouble getting parts for the Jag, if one does some online legwork. For example, I just got a set of fuel injectors. Since the system uses a common Bosch injector (It's an XJ40) there are about fifty models that use the same thing. When one gets bitten is when it is a Coventry part!
Well, it keeps my wife happy. She shows it at the annual concourse and takes seconds with it, and has a ...relationship..with it that borders on perversion.
more of a reason to buy the laptops IBM makes now, before the quality goes downhill...
My '67 Pontiac Catalina looks better all the time.
Which is why only a looney buys the first model year!!! I learned my lesson when young with a 1954 Mercury, the first year with the OHV V8. I have spent a lifetime trying to forget the experience.
Still have dreams about the '58 Studebaker Golden Hawk, though..WHY did I sell that!!!?
Just wondering: does the Asian concept of "face" inspire the auto manufactures there to do a better job?
I suspect Porsche got a bad culture rap in the 80's-90's.
We had a young engineer, a recent graduate, show up in a new black Porsche.
People constantly ribbed him..making wiping-the-finger-up-the-nose gesture to him, explaining that they had a big party this weekend, and did he have an 8-ball hanging around, etc., others were asking for rentals of women.
He finally left and found a job somewhere else.
Add dodge technology to a mercedes and you get the making of two dead end streets - I hate the german auto and lazy managers.
"German, to me, looks like what worms do under rocks."
P.J. O'Rourke, "Holidays in Hell".
When Benz bought Chrysler, I hoped the german quality would rub off on the crappy US cars. Apparently the opposite happened. Most German products tend to be overly engineered and complicated. They had the same trouble with their tanks in WW2. Far superior to the competition, (at least after the Panther and Tiger were introduced to counter the T-34), but if they break down every few miles, they're useless except as pillboxes.
I bought the last one before the Iraq war began...next time, we will get Japanese (Lexus or Acord).
R'44
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